This on Roland Martin’s NewsOne show, and especially the piece here by Sports Commentato Dale Hansen is really powerful…
Tag Archives: oppression
Sessions Brings Back Jim Crow Drug Laws
The Judicial system as a means of racial oppression…The New Jim Crow is back after a too short hiatus under Obama.Brought to us by the Grand Dragon Jeff Sessions and the KKK.
The so called “War on Drugs” in this country is, and always was a race war.
Sessions issues sweeping new criminal charging policy
Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the sweeping criminal charging policy of former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and directed his federal prosecutors Thursday to charge defendants with the most serious, provable crimes carrying the most severe penalties.
The Holder memo, issued in August 2013, instructed his prosecutors to avoid charging certain defendants with drug offenses that would trigger long mandatory minimum sentences. Defendants who met a set of criteria such as not belonging to a large-scale drug trafficking organization, gang or cartel, qualified for lesser charges — and in turn less prison time — under Holder’s policy.
But Sessions’s new charging policy, outlined in a two-page memo and sent to more than 5,000 assistant U.S. attorneys across the country and all assistant attorneys general in Washington, orders prosecutors to “charge and purse the most serious, readily provable offense” and rescinds Holder’s policy immediately.
The Sessions memo marks the first significant criminal justice effort by the Trump administration to bring back the toughest practices of the drug war, which had fallen out of favor in recent years with a bipartisan movement to undo the damaging effects of mass incarceration.
“This policy fully utilizes the tools Congress has given us,” the attorney general’s memo says. “By definition, the most serious offenses are those that carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimum sentences.”
The new policy is expected to lead to more federal prosecutions and an increase in the federal prison population. In February, Sessions seemed to prepare for that inevitability, reversing a directive from previous deputy attorney general Sally Yates for the Justice Department to stop using private prisons to house federal inmates.
Yates said at the time that doing so was possible because of declining inmate numbers. Sessions, though, said it had “impaired the [Bureau of Prisons’] ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system” — hinting that he saw a very different future for putting people behind bars.
In speeches across the country, including his first major address as attorney general, Sessions has talked of his belief that recent increases in serious crime might indicate that the United States stands at the beginning of a violent new period. He has noted that the homicide rate is half of what it once was, but he has said he fears times of peace might be coming to an end if law enforcement does not quickly return to the aggressive tactics it once used….
NFL SF 49ers QB, Colin Kaepernick Sits Out National Anthem in Protest
I remember the ’68 Olympics when John Carlos and Tommie Smith stood tall…
49ers Quarterback Sits Out National Anthem To Protest Oppression Of Minorities
As players rose to stand for the national anthem at the 49ers-Packers game on Friday night, 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick pointedly remained seated.
His gesture was to protest the treatment of African Americans and minorities in the United States, as he told NFL.com after the game. Kaepernick has remained sitting during the anthem “in at least one other preseason game,” according to the site.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said, according to NFL.com. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
He told NFL.com that he did not notify the team in advance. “I am not looking for approval. I have to stand up for people that are oppressed. … If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right,” Kaepernick said. NFL.com reports that Kaepernick recently “decided to be more active and involved in rights for black people.”
In a statement carried by NFL.com, the 49ers said they recognize his right to remain seated:
“The national anthem is and always will be a special part of the pre-game ceremony. It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem.”
On his Twitter page, Kaepernick has recently focused on Black Lives Matter, police violence and civil rights issues.
Kaepernick’s protest has drawn comparisons to a similar gesture 20 years ago from Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, which generated a major controversy.He was suspended for one game and ultimately agreed to stand with his head bowed in prayer, as SB Nation reported.
The gesture has also ignited debate and is currently trending on Twitter. It has sharply divided fellow NFL players.
For example, Miami Dolphins running back Arian Foster wrote, “the flag represents freedom. the freedom to choose to stand or not. that’s what makes this country beautiful.” Later, he wrote, “protest is imperative for change. it invokes the conversation.”
On the 40th Anniversary of their protest, Tommie Smith and John Carlos (pictured above L-R) were honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre in Los Angeles.
BLM Activist Convicted For “Lynching”
Going back to the days of the Civil Rights Movement when Police spied on, persecuted, and murdered black leaders…
Black Lives Matter Activist Sentenced to 90 Days in Jail for ‘Lynching’
For the first time in American history, a Black woman has been convicted of “lynching.”
Last week, a California judge sentenced Jasmine Richards, a 28-year-old Black Lives Matter activist to 90 days in jail for lynching, defined in California as “the taking by means of a riot of another person from the lawful custody of a police officer”, reports Vox.
The conviction stems from an incident that took place last August, in which police were called because a Black woman had been accused of exiting a restaurant without paying.
As police attempted to arrest the woman, Richards, who was nearby at a Black Lives Matter protest, approached the officers. Video shows Richards standing by the woman, but police claim she was trying to pull her away.
Richards was arrested and charged with delaying and obstructing peace officers, inciting a riot, child endangerment and lynching.
Though other African-Americans in the state have been charged with lynching, Richards is the first to be convicted. Lawyers for Richards say that this is an attempt at silencing the activist.
“Clearly this is a political prosecution,” her attorney, Nana Gyamfi said to Vox. “Its intention is to stop people from organizing and from speaking out and challenging the system. There’s a political message that’s been sent by both the prosecutor and the police and, by conviction, the jury.”
College Professor Wears Hijab…Gets Suspended at Wheaton College
You hear a lot from evangelical Christians about being persecuted. Folks trying to destroy Christmas, or other “christian traditions” in America…
So why is it everywhere you look it is the so called christians doing the persecuting?
Professor Larycia Hawkins of Wheaton College wore a hijab to show her solidarity in faith with Muslims
Wheaton College students back suspended professor wearing hijab
A tenured Wheaton College professor who, as part of her Christian Advent devotion, donned a traditional headscarf to show solidarity with Muslims has been placed on administrative leave, sparking protests on the west suburban campus Wednesday.
Larycia Hawkins, a political science professor at the private evangelical Christian college, announced last week that she would wear the veil to show support for Muslims who have been under greater scrutiny since mass shootings in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.
“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book,” she posted on Facebook. “And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
But it was that explanation of her gesture that concerned some evangelical Christians, who read her statement as a conflation of Christian and Muslim theology.
“While Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic, we believe there are fundamental differences between the two faiths, including what they teach about God’s revelation to humanity, the nature of God, the path to salvation and the life of prayer,” Wheaton College said in a statement.
But on Wednesday, students in the grip of finals, filtered into the lobby of the college’s administration building to deliver a letter to President Philip Ryken and Provost Stan Jones demanding Hawkins’ reinstatement.
Wyatt Harms said supporting Hawkins, who is “unparalleled in her academics,” was a more urgent priority than studying.
“Dr. Hawkins is an essential part of the community here,” said Harms, a political science major who has taken several of Hawkins’ classes. “She’s a refuge for so many students on campus.”
Students discussed a social media campaign to support Hawkins, #ReinstateDocHawk, through which students and alumni could share their personal stories of Hawkins’ teaching or mentorship. They also mentioned an online petition that’s gathered nearly 900 signatures.
“Dr. Hawkins has and continues to be an invaluable resource to the students of Wheaton College, particularly to those of color,” the letter said. “She is known for her sharp intelligence, her challenging intellect, and her ability to encourage those around her to live an incarnational faith.”
“We believe there is nothing in Dr. Hawkins’ public statements that goes against the belief in the power and nature of God, Christ, or the Holy Spirit that the Statement of Faith deems as a necessary requirement for affiliation with Wheaton College,” the letter continued.
Clara Kent, who graduated in 2014 with a major in anthropology, relied on Hawkins as a mentor and academic adviser during her college career.
“She’s an example of love, compassion and justice,” Kent said.
Hawkins, 43, of Oak Park, planned to wear the hijab everywhere she went until Christmas, including on her flight home to Oklahoma, where voters in 2010 overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment banning Shariah, or Islamic law.
“In a time of real vitriolic rhetoric, by fellow Christians sometimes, and people who aren’t Christian who conflate all Muslims with terrorists — and that saddens me — this is a way of saying if all women wear the hijab we cannot discriminate,” she said in a Tribune interview. “If all women were in solidarity, who is the real Muslim? How is TSA going to decide who they really suspect?”
While Hawkins did not need to seek approval from Wheaton College, she did seek advice from the Council on American Islamic Relations, to make sure she did not offend Muslims.
Renner Larson, communications director for CAIR’s Chicago chapter, said he was intrigued by her idea when she approached him.
“There’s a lot of misconception about why women wear hijab and this idea that women are forced to wear it,” said Larson, who is not Muslim. “For a lot of people it’s a very powerful choice, especially in the United States it can be a hard, uncomfortable choice. So often women wearing hijab are the targets of attack and hatred because more than anyone else they are so immediately recognizable as Muslim.”
Wheaton administrators did not denounce Hawkins’ gesture but said as a professor at the premiere evangelical Christian college, her explanation should have been clearer.
“Wheaton College faculty and staff make a commitment to accept and model our institution’s faith foundations with integrity, compassion and theological clarity,” the college said in a statement. “As they participate in various causes, it is essential that faculty and staff engage in and speak about public issues in ways that faithfully represent the college’s evangelical Statement of Faith.”
Denny Burk, a professor of biblical studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said his greatest concern about Hawkins’ explanation was the lack of clarity about the particulars of Christianity. Without further explaining the nuances of her argument, she implicitly denied Christian teachings, he said.
“We’re people of the book, but our books are very different,” he said. “They’re witnessing to two different ways of salvation. The Bible is witnessing to Jesus Christ the son of God. That’s unique of all the world religions, and that uniqueness was what I thought was missing from what she said.”
But Miroslav Volf, a theology professor at Yale Divinity School and founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, praised Hawkins’ gesture as extraordinary and an apt Advent devotion.
“This is not so much about theology as it is about orthodoxy,” said Volf, who recently wrote “Flourishing,” a book about the importance of religions taking up common causes. “She has not denied any of the Christian claims that God was the holy trinity, that God was incarnate in Jesus Christ and Christ is the savior of the world who died on the cross. She has not denied any of these claims. I think in the Wheaton constituency there’s strong enmity toward Islam.”
Last week, a coalition of student leaders at Wheaton drafted an open letter calling on evangelical Christian leaders to condemn recent remarks by Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. that students armed with guns can “end those Muslims.”
Gene Green, a professor of the New Testament at Wheaton, said what motivated Hawkins is the same concern many faculty members at the school share about the unfair scrutiny facing the Muslim community.
“Dr. Hawkins and others want to follow the example of Jesus, who went to those who were discriminated against,” he said. “He ate with people whom others rejected. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors, and the Muslims are our neighbors.”
Taxation Through Citation
Larry Lessig, here being interviewed by Cenk Uygur lays out the corrupt system of Civil fines… And while Ferguson may be the most exposed example, as we have seen in Biloxi and other areas, this isn’t just an isolated systemic-abuse problem.
Pharrell Williams…”Freedom” and Prince …”Baltimore”
Enjoy the song – but check out the background and symbolism…
Prince’s song on Baltimore and the death of Freddy Gray…
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